


New beginnings don't always feel fresh

by gayfangirltrash



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Kayla (Julie and The Phantoms), Bisexual Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Closeted Carrie Wilson, F/F, F/M, Klarrie, Lesbian Carrie Wilson, M/M, Multi, Nickinald, idek if klarrie is the actual ship name its just what ive seen, main ships in this fic are, willex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:35:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayfangirltrash/pseuds/gayfangirltrash
Summary: Kayla sighed and flopped onto her new bed, pulling out her phone to facetime her best friend. It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited about her families move. She was. It was just such a big change, and she really needed something familiar right now.“Hey Reg,” she drawled as his flushed face appeared on her screen.“Oof. I know that tone,” he chuckled. “Whats going on? Room too small? No let me guess. Too big.”“Shut up!” She scolded playfully. Then she sighed. “Its not the room.” He raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. “Its all just so sudden, ya know? I mean, two months ago I was flying down to albuquerque to see you and my grandparents. Then my moms spring this on me. I would’ve at least liked to have a little longer to pack up my stuff. Maybe say some goodbyes. Don't get me wrong, you and Willie are the closest friends I have, but there were some girls at school im gonna miss.”
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Kayla/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Kayla & Nick (Julie and The Phantoms), Kayla & Reggie & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Kayla & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Kayla & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Nick/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ahaha i tagged this and formatted it and eveything then i accidentally deleted it which sucked
> 
> anyways im actually pretty proud of how this chapter turned out. i have no idea where this is going right now because i do not have a plot, so this fic is either going to crash and burn or turn out amazing!

Kayla sighed and flopped onto her new bed, pulling out her phone to facetime her best friend. It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited about her families move. She was. It was just such a big change, and she really needed something familiar right now.

“Hey Reg,” she drawled as his flushed face appeared on her screen.

“Oof. I know that tone,” he chuckled. “Whats going on? Room too small? No let me guess. Too big.” 

“Shut up!” She scolded playfully. Then she sighed. “Its not the room.” He raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. “Its all just so sudden, ya know? I mean, two months ago I was flying down to albuquerque to see you and my grandparents. Then my moms spring this on me. I would’ve at least liked to have a little longer to pack up my stuff. Maybe say some goodbyes. Don't get me wrong, you and Willie are the closest friends I have, but there were some girls at school im gonna miss.”

“I totally getchu. Change can be rough, even if its good. I mean, you’re closer to family now. Not to mention only a couple hours away from me!” He smiled teethilly at her.

“I know!” Kayla shrieks, rolling over on her bed. “I can’t believe we’ll get to see each other that much more often now! And yeah, I’m sooo excited to be closer to Nick and Chloe. I see them every year, and we face time all the time, but now we live ten minutes away from each other!” She glances at her phone clock. “They’re coming over soon too!” She sees his mischievous look on his face and laughs. “Ah, you always know how to make me feel better Reg. Getting me excited was a nice little trick.”

“I know. I’m quite the magician, aren’t I.” Kayla hears loud voices coming from somewhere near Reggies room. His face falls a bit.

“They’re still going at it, huh?” she asks.

“Yeah. Its gotten worse recently, for some reason.” At the concerned expression on her face, he smiles weakly. “I’ll be fine. I just wish they could get a divorce already and have it over with.”

“Reggie!” someone yells from outside his door. “We need to talk to you!”

Reggie’s eyebrows furrow. “Huh. wonder what thats about.” He blows her a joking kiss. “Well, gotta go. See you later.”

“You’ll tell me everything that happens?” She asks.

“You know it,” he chuckles, throwing up a peace sign and a wink before signing off. She sighs and flops back onto her bed. But this time, Kayla’s smiling.  
She lies there for a few moments, making a pact with herself to be excited for the new school year. 

“Kayla!” her mom, Taylor calls up. “Your cousins are here!”

Kayla squealed and hopped up, bolting out the door and down the stairs. She skidded to a halt in the living room, and saw her uncles, Chad and Ryan, and her cousins, Chloe and Nick, standing near the door. Probably alerted by her squeal, Nick turned her direction and smiled brightly. She rushes over and jumps straight into his arms, squeezing him tightly.

“Nick, its been forever!” she laughed.

“What do you mean? We face timed last week!” Nick joked. Kayla swatted his arm.

“You know what I meant. Christmas was months ago. And how are you baby?” She turned and scooped her younger cousin into her arms. Chloe giggled and buried her face in Kayla's hair. After setting her down, Kayla turned and engulfed her uncles in a big hug as well.

***

Reggie ended the call and sighed. He wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but he knew for sure he wouldn’t like it. Thinking he might as well get it over with, he hopped off his bed end exited the room.

He found his parents sitting on opposite sides of the living room.

“Whats up?” he asked, flopping onto the couch. He glanced between his parents. His mom’s face was emotionless, his dad’s stony, and Reggie felt his heart rate quicken. The atmosphere in the room was tense, and he felt he was in the calm before the storm. His mother cleared her throat.

“Reggie, your father and I are separating.”

Reggie felt his mouth drop open and hastened to close it. He felt a feeling close to relief, but not quite. He knew a divorce was what his parents needed, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly after he had mentioned it to Kayla. He was about to say something, before realizing his mom was avoiding his gaze.

“Is there something else?” he asked hesitantly. His mom didn’t look at him.

“What your mother isn’t saying, Reggie, is that more than us getting a divorce, we’re going to take some time to ourselves for a while,” Reggies dad continued.

“What?” Reggie asked, growing increasingly confused. What where they saying?

“We’ve already called Mr. Covington. He’s agreed to let you stay with his family in LA for a couple of months.” 

Reggie felt a ball in his throat. “What?” he choked again. “You guys are just- leaving me?” He desperately looked at his mom, but she continued to avoid his gaze.

“Its for the best Reggie. We need some time to sort out the affairs, and you shouldn’t be caught in the middle of that,” she finally replied. Reggie stood up abruptly.

“I’m going for a walk,” he gasped, before running to his room to grab his banjo and phone and walking out the door.

He wandered aimlessly until he wound up at a park a few blocks from his house. He sat beneath a tree and tried to sort his thoughts. Spending a few months with Willie didn’t seem so bad. He would be even closer to Kayla too. Having his best friends to support him would be nice.

It took him a minute to slow his breathing. The situation itself wasn’t bad. It was just the feeling that his parents were abandoning him. He hummed to himself, strumming on his banjo to ease his nerves.

***

Kayla laughed as she walked towards the pier with Nick. Although it had been awhile since they last saw each other in person, conversation flowed easily between the two. They had spent almost an hour hanging out in the living room of Kayla’s house with their parents, before Nick had asked if he could show Kayla around LA. Although Chloe had begged to come, the adults had only allowed the older kids to go.

“So, tell me Nick, where do you get your adorable hats? Are they heirlooms from your dad?” Kayla asked jokingly. Nick shoved her.

“Are you making fun of me?” he asked accusingly.

“Never!” Kayla crooned. He shoved her again, before grabbing her hand and dragging her around a corner. “Where are we- Oh…” 

Kayla gazed in wonder at the sight in front of her. A small carnival was spread over the boardwalk, complete with a carousal, a ferris wheel, and a bunch of games. She glanced at Nick and saw a brilliant grin on his face. This time, it was Kayla who grabbed his hand and dragged him forward.

They wandered through every row of the carnival, playing tons of games yet only winning three prizes. They were just grabbing some cheesy pretzels when Nick spotted some of his friends in the crowd.

“Julie! Luke! Guys!” He shouted to them. A boy wearing an orange beanie spotted them and began to drag three other people over to their table.

“Hey bro!” The beanie boy exclaimed, reaching forward to do a weird sport handshake. “Who’s this?” he asked, gesturing to Kayla. She smiled a little and waved at the group.

“This is my cousin Kayla. She just moved here from New York. Kayla, this is Luke, Julie, Flynn, and Alex.” They chorused a ‘hi’ and sat down next to them.  
“Luke and I play lacrosse together,” Nick mentioned to her. “Alex is in cheer, so we all hang out a lot. And Julie and Flynn are in the same music class as all of us.”

“Cool!” Kayla remarks, smiling. “I’m thinking about joining cheer. Is it fun?” she asked Alex.

“Eh,” Alex sighed. “It used to be when I was younger, but know its just time consuming and exhausting. Not to mention the newest coach is total jerk. I’m thinking of quitting.” 

Kayla laughed. “Maybe i’ll just do dance then.”

“Oh yeah, Kayla’s a killer dancer,” Nick told his friends. 

For the next little while, Kayla got to know Nick’s friends. She learned all of them played some kind of instrument and sang, and that she shared many common interests with them. She felt hope bubbling inside her, and she began to think that maybe this school year would be easier than she thought.

Just as they started discussing the lacrosse season, she got a text on her phone.

**Willie:** have you talked to reg recently? 

Kayla frowned a bit, wondering what was going on.

**Kayla:** um, we facetimed a couple hours ago. did something happen?

**Willie:** yeah. his parents are finally getting divorced, but for some shit reason they’re deciding Reggie doesn’t need to be there when it happens. they called my dad a bit ago and asked if reg could stay with us for a while while they sort everything out. I found out before they even told him.

**Kayla:** fuck. Lemme call him

“Hey Kayla, you okay?” Flynn asked, noticing her worried expression.

Kayla stood up from then table, her brow creased. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just have to call my friend real quick. I’ll be right back.” She walked to an empty bench on the boardwalk and sat down, trying to ignore the worried glances of Nick’s friends.

She pulled up Reggies contact on her phone, and started a video call. It took a minute, but eventually Reggies face appeared on her screen.

“Hey Reg!” she said, trying to sound cheerful and failing. “You okay?”

“You heard?” asked, sounding more hopeful then anything. 

“Uh, yeah. Willie texted me. Is it really happening?”

“Yeah.” he sounded solemn. “I mean, Im fine with the divorce, ya know? Its been a long time coming. Its just- I never expected them to send me away.”

“Yeah. do you know when its happening?” she asked him. A quick glance back to her table showed that Nick and his friends were still throwing worried glances her way.

“Yeah. I left to the park right after they told me, but mom texted me saying I’m flying out in a week. I have until then to pack my stuff.”

“Thats like, two days before school starts!” Kayla exclaims. “Are you enrolling with me and Willie?”

“Yeah. Mr. Covington’s being really cool about this. Its a little late to apply, but he called in some favors and as long as I send in my audition tape by twelve pm tomorrow, they’ll consider it.” He took a second before continuing to talk. “I’m actually kind of excited I guess. I mean, I’ll get to be closer to my besties, and not have to deal with my fighting parents. Seems like the perfect world.”

“Reggie, you’re allowed to feel sad about this,” Kayla insisted. He gave her a weak smile. 

“I know. And I am. Im just also trying to see the light too.”

She chuckled at that. “Well, as long as you’re feeling okay.”

“I am.” He looked somewhere off camera. “I should probably start walking home. See ya!”

“Bye Reg. Goodnight.” She ended the call and walked back over to her cousin.

“Everything all right?” Nick asked her.

“Yeah. my friend’s just has some family stuff going on. I’ll tell ya later.” She brushed off their concerned looks and dove back into conversations. “So, what should I be most excited for about Los Feliz?”

***

After a while, Nick and Kayla left. Flynn and the others resumed their aimless wandering, but Flynn’s mind wasn’t on her friends. She was thinking about Kayla. She had only met her a few hours ago, but something about the other girls smile was stuck in her head.

“Earth to Flynn. Flynn. You there?” Julie asked, waving her hand in front of Flynns face.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Flynn blushed a little as Julie narrowed her eyes at her.

“What are you not saying? I know that tone of voice.”

Flynn mentally cursed Julie and her seemingly psychic mind. “I’ll tell you later,” she groaned.

“Tell Julie what later?” Luke butted in.

“Nothing! Its none of your business!” Flynn groaned again.

“Well now I want to know what it is!” Alex piped up.

“No!” Flynn shouted, sounding exasperated. Luke and Alex raised their eyebrows at each other, silently agreeing the safest option would be to shut up.  
“Well, it looks like someones getting cranky,” Julie joked. “I think its best we head home. Bye boys!” 

“Bye!” Alex and Luke called. Julie pulled Flynn to her car.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the molina residence. They walked straight into the studio, where they had already set up their sleepover gear, and Julie wasted no time before getting Flynn to spill.

“So. What had you spacing out at the boardwalk? You had this glazed look in your eye, so I know it wasn’t nothing.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t nothing. It was something. Something I did not expect and was not prepared for.” Flynn sighed, burying her face into a pillow.

“Let me guess. You like Kayla.” Flynn shot upright and stared at Julie, a shocked expression on her face.

“What? How did you- what?” she stuttered. Julie chuckled.

“Girl, I saw the look on your face when Nick introduced us. You thought she was cute. Then, the more we got to know her the more you looked at her with simp eyes. You should have seen your face when she went to call her friend! It was full on worry.”

Flynn sighed, and buried her face back into the pillow. “Fine. You caught me. I have caught feelings for yet another gorgeous dancer. Happy?” She closed her eyes and silently screamed into the fabric. She only sat back up when she felt Julie lay a hand on her shoulder.

“Flynn, its okay to like more than one person.”

“Not when one is CARRIE, the literal embodiment of lucifer, and the other is Kayla, who I only just met!”

“Hey!” Julie lifted her hand off Flynn’s shoulder, only to use it to punch her in the side. “Carrie and I made up. How much of you hating her is due to repressing your feelings and avoiding asking her out? And Kayla’s going to be going to school with us. You’ll get to know her better then.”

Flynn flopped backwards onto the mattress on the floor. “Okay, first off, Carrie is dating Nick. I could never do that to my boy! And who knows, Kayla could end up being just another snobby rich kid. We only talked for like forty minutes.”

Julie just sighed and laid next to her. “Keep coming up with excuses Flynn. Avoiding you crushes is just going to end up with you distant and alone. Do you really want that?” A glance over at Flynn told Julie she was being adamantly ignored. She sighed again. “Well, just know that if the worst happens, I’ll be there to fix your eyeliner. You wanna watch moana?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter suckkkkks. its been mostly finished for a while now, but i lacked motivation to post it, but now i've gotten motivation i guess?  
> believe me, i know how much my writing sucks. also, i've decided this fic is going to have as many pov's as i want. it may be chaotic but i really want to explore the thoughts of all the characters...  
> so here you go. it may be a disaster, but its _my_ disaster

The next week went by in a blur. Reggie had been accepted to Los Feliz performing arts school two days after he had applied, and he was very nervous. He did all he could to pack up his stuff, but in the end only a fraction of it could fit in his two suitcases. The flight to LA was quick, but unpacking of his stuff took forever. Kayla couldn’t find a chance to skip out on her chores to help, so by the first day of school he still hadn’t seen her in person, even though they had facetimed a lot. 

The Covington mansion was only a few blocks from the school, so Reggie and Willie had to walk. It wasn’t bad, since the excitement of seeing Kayla and the nerves about school gave him energy. Still, by the time they got to school Reggie was a bit out of breath, having had had to keep up with Willie on the skateboard.

“I’m telling you man, you’re gonna love Loz Feliz,” Willie was telling him. “All the teachers are really supportive, and everyone’s super accepting.” He paused for a second. “You know, now that I think about it, a bunch of kids are LGBTQ+. Huh.” He nudged Reggie’s shoulder, a devious smile on his face. “Who knows, maybe you’ll find someone.”

Reggie jokingly glared at him. In reality, he wasn’t actually opposed to the idea, but it was fun to disagree with Willie.

“I’m going to ignore you now.” Reggie stared across the parking lot, where students were rushing to greet friends and introduce themselves to the new kids. “Do you see Kayla?”

“Over there!” Willie shouted, pointing across the parking lot. Reggie saw Kayla heading towards a group of people standing near the front of the school. “Do you think we should sneak up on her?” Willie asked.

“Nope.” And with that, Reggie barrelled through the crowd. Chuckling, Willie skated after him.

***

Kayla would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. She had been going to the same school district her whole life, and had no idea what it was like to be new. Add on top of that the guilt of not being able to see Reggie, and her anxiety levels were over the top. She had filled Nick in on the situation after they had left the pier, and he had been surprisingly sympathetic. She was excited for her boys to meet.

On the first day of school, her mom dropped her off in front of the school. As Sharpay kissed her cheek and said goodbye, Kayla felt a bit of her nerves disappear. She climbed out and scanned the parking lot. She didn’t see Reggie or Willie, but she did spot Nick and his friends. She took a deep breath and started walking towards them.

As she got closer, Flynn and Alex noticed her and waved. The others turned to see who they were looking at and waved as well. She smiled at them.  
When she was about twelve feet away she heard someone shout her name. She turned, and out of the corner of her eye she sees the rest of the group turning as well. She barely had time to register who was running at her before Reggie picked her up in a hug and swung her around.

***

Flynn had spent her last week of summer preparing for school. Both physically and mentally. Half her time had been spent with Julie, going school shopping and getting her things in order, and the other half was spent trying to sort out how she was going to deal with everything. 

By the morning of the first day though, she had figured out some semblance of a plan. Well, it was more of a coping strategy. She would take up meditation, as a way to relax, and every day after school she would go to the beach and scream. It was solid, as far as Flynn could see.

With this new strategy in mind, she met up with her friends on the first day, and felt remarkably confident. Julie picked her up, and they spent the short drive laughing and singing along to the radio. When they got there, they made their way to where Alex, Nick, and Luke were standing, laughing about some stupid sport joke Luke had made. Well, Nick and Luke were laughing. Alex was watching them with an expression that was somehow both concerned and dismayed at their dull sense of humor.

“Hey bros,” Flynn said in a ridiculously low voice. Alex laughed at that, but Luke and Nick just looked confused, not getting that she was making fun of them. “So, how was your weekend? Anybody else have a breakdown?”

“Ayyy,” Alex said, high fiving her. She intertwined their hands and stood next to him. They might make jokes all the time about their mental health, but they were also always there for support.

The group stood there for a minute, chatting aimlessly and dreading every minute before the day officially started. Flynn glanced around the parking lot, trying to spot people she recognized, when her gaze landed on Kayla, who was making her way towards them. Flynn nudged Alex, then smiled and waved. The others turned to see who she was looking at and waved too. Julie gave Flynn a knowing look, but lifted her hands in surrender when Flynn glared at her.

Flynn’s heart started beating faster as Kayla got closer. She was preparing to say hi, when someone shouted, “Kayla!!!!” and a blur of black jeans and a flannel rushed forward and scooped Kayla up into a hug. Kayla burst out laughing, and Flynn felt her heart simultaneously soar at the sound and drop, wondering who this guy was.

***

When Reggie’s situation started, Willie had been confused and worried. Reg’s parents had always been fighting and ignoring him, but they had never done anything as neglectful as send him away. But, after the initial shock of the news, all Willie felt was determination. He would be there for Reggie the entire time, and her would do everything he could to make him feel at home. 

He did everything in his power to get Reggie excited about Los Feliz on their way to school, talking about all the extra curriculars and activities. When he spotted Kayla, Willie felt better about the whole thing. As a trio, they had always been able to cheer each other up.

Willie skated behind Reggie in amusement. While he had seen Kayla just a few days ago, for Reggie it had been almost a month. He laughed as Reggie shouted Kayla’s name and swept her off her feet.

“Reggie!” Kayla exclaimed, laughing as well. “I can’t breathe!” Reggie gently set her back down, grinning like a maniac.

“What can I say, I’m excited to see you. Its been forever,” he said, dragging out ‘forever’. Willie laughed. Kayla turned to him and grinned, pulling him into a giant hug.

“How you been skater boy?” she asked as she pulled away.

“Oh, you know,” he chuckled. “Pretty good.”

Someone cleared their throat, and the three turned to look at the group of people Kayla had been heading towards. Willie grinned and waved at them, recognizing all of them from school. He caught the eye of Alex, a boy he had met when they were assigned as partners for a science project, and smiled even wider.

“So, who’s this?” said a boy wearing an orange beanie, gesturing towards Reggie. Willie recognized him as Luke, one of Alex’s friends. “Your boyfriend?” he asked Kayla.

Kayla laughed a little at that. “Nah. This is Reggie, one of my besties. He just moved here from upstate,” she said, slinging her arm over Reggies shoulder. “And this is Willie. You guys might know him, since he already goes here.”

“Yeah, uh, we know Willie,” Alex said, blushing furiously. Willie bit his lip and smiled at him.

“Hey hotdog,” he chuckled. Somehow, the blush on Alex’s face got darker.

“Hotdog?” Kayla whisper hissed at him, and Willie mentally cursed himself. He had told Kayla about the boy he called hotdog. He had just never told her his actual name. Willie elbowed her, hoping she would get the message to shut up. He hoped he wasn’t blushing.

Kayla rolled her eyes and gave him a look. But graciously, she moved past the subject. “Reggie, this is Luke, Alex, Julie, and Flynn. And, last but not least,” she pulled Reggie forward to stand next to her cousin. “Nick. You guys have met over facetime, but now you get to meet in person.”

“Hi!” Reggie said cheerily, waving at everyone. He smiled at Nick. “Kayla’s told me a lot about you!” He didn’t seem to notice the faint blush on Nicks cheeks as he reached out a hand to shake.

“Uh, yeah,” Nick replied, taking the hand. Willie made a mental note of how Nick was looking at Reggie. Maybe…

***

Reggie smiled at the group around him. He had been worried about the people at his new school, but meeting these guys gave him a sense of security. They had a welcoming energy that reassured him. And god, did he need reassurance.

He smiled widely at Nick as he shook his hand. Kayla had never shied away from talking about her cousins, so Reggie knew a _lot_ about the boy. Seeing him in person did nothing to squash the crush he had developed after meeting on facetime a few years ago. 

Suddenly, Reggies phone rang. 

“ _All I am, is a man, I want the world, in my hands, I hate the beach, But I stand, in California with my toes in the sand._ ”

“Eyy, Bi pride stand up!” Flynn exclaimed excitedly, raising her arm in a fist and revealing a bracelet with the bi colors.

“Eyy!” Kayla, Julie, Nick and Reggie repeated back, raising there own fists and showing off similar bracelet. Reggie felt a burst of happiness as they all broke out into laughter. His smile somehow got even bigger as he realised how many of these people he could relate to, and he dug his phone out of his back pocket.  
When he saw the caller name, his smile immediately dropped. Everyone who had been laughing a minute ago quickly quieted, and he felt Kayla grab his arm.

“You all right Reg?” she asked gently, the concern evident in her expression as she saw the screen. Willie hopped off his board and jogged forward, placing his hand on Reggies shoulder and leaning past Kayla to see.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just- I have to take this.” He turned and walked a few steps away. “Hey mom,” he mumbled into the phone.”

“ _Hey hon. How are you?_ ”

“Good. What-”

“ _Oh thats nice_ ,” she interrupted. “ _Hey, I was wondering, did you happen to take the green headlamp with you_?”

“What?”

“ _You know, that bright green headlamp your father got you for christmas last year. Do you have it?_ ”

“Uh. No, I don’t think so.” Reggie’s voice started to fade out, and he felt any hope he had had trickle away.

“ _Well do you have any idea where it might be? My girlfriends and I are going on a camping trip and I really don't want to go to the store._ ”

“No, I don't know where it is.” 

The line was quiet for a moment. Then, “ _Okay. Bye_ ,” and she hung up.

Reggie let out a breath as he put away his phone. Strangely, he felt a feeling close to relief. It hurt like hell that his mom only called him to find one of his possessions, but at least she had stopped pretending to care about him. No more forced ‘I love you’s added on as an afterthought. He was finally free from the suffocating cage that had been his parents.

“What’d she want?” Kayla asked tentatively. Reggie smiled. It was weak, and it was timid, but it was real.

“Nothing that matters,” he answered.

The warning bell rung out, and the big group of people turned to walk through the doors. Kayla stuck by Reggies side, but he was happy to note she wasn’t looking at him with as much as concern. She opted instead to hold his hand, and he smiled as he watched her strike up a conversation with Flynn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! please leave any feedback you have in the comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for how long it has been since i updated. i had severe writers block for a while. yup.  
> anyways..... here u go. its not very good, but honestly, who expected it to be?

Reggie’s first class (science) went by quickly. The teacher gave them disclosures to read over, and then let them chill, with a promise to assign lab partners the next day. Unfortunately, neither Willie nor Kayla had first hour with him, but one of the girls Kayla had introduced to him, Julie, was there, and she waved at him from across the room. Reggie got to chatting to his deskmate, a girl named Carrie, and by the end of the period it seemed he had a new friend.

“So, what class do you have next?” Carrie asked as they walked out the door.

“Uh,” Reggie struggled to pull his schedule out of his back pocket. “Music.”

“Yay!” Carrie smiled and grabbed his arm. “Me too! I’ll show you the way.” She began dragging him down the hall.

“Hey, Carrie, Reggie!” Someone behind them shouted, and the girl stopped abruptly. Reggie turned to see Julie jogging to catch up to them. “Hi guys! Can I walk with you?”

“Sure. You know Reggie?” Carrie said, looking between the two.

“Oh, yeah. He’s Nick’s cousin’s friend. I met him this morning.”

“Nick’s cousin Kayla’s friend?” Carrie asked, looking slightly alarmed. 

“Yeah!” Reggie said. “Do you know her?”

“Not really. Nick told me she was moving here. Its all hes been able to talk about since he heard, but i still haven’t met her.”A look of realization crossed her face. “Oh. I think Nick might have mentioned you too.” 

Reggie glanced at the floor, bracing himself for pitying reassurances. When they didn’t come, he looked back at Carrie. While her expression was reassuring, there was no pity. Just a small smile and an empathetic gaze. She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I know what its like to have family problems.”

He smiled back at her. He had told Kayla it was okay to tell people the circumstances of his move, figuring it was better for people to get to know him fully rather than figure out he’d been hiding things all along, and he was glad that the information had reached Carrie. Knowing there was someone who understood his problems was really comforting.

Carrie turned back to Julie, not letting go of Reggie's hand, and said, “Come on. Lets get to class.”

That shocked Reggie out of his daze. Alarm bells went off in his head as he realized they had spent over half of their time standing outside the science classroom. Luckily, Carrie accounted for the lost time by dragging both Julie and Reggie through the halls and shoving past the lingering students. She pulled them through a door and shoved them into seats mere moments before the bell rang.

“Just in time! Julie, Carrie, and…” 

“Reggie,” Julie supplied, which Reggie shook out of his daze, his brain finally catching up with the rest of him. He smiled at the woman who had spoken, who he presumed to be the teacher, and waved. She gently shook her head at him, which would have been concerning if she hadn’t also been smiling bemusedly.

“All right class. I am Ms. Harrison, and I will be your music teacher this year! Now, for those of you who’ve gone here for a while, I assume you remember how we usually start off the year by reviewing everything you learned last year in this class?” a collective groan rose up from over half the students in the room. Ms. Harrison just chuckled. “Well, lucky for you, we’re not doing that this year.” Everyone simultaneously sighed in relief, even Reggie, who had no idea what was going on. 

“You are all Juniors now. You all should be at or above the skill level expected of you. So, we are beginning the year with group performances. You will divide into groups of two to three, staying in your instrument categories- with the exception of percussion, who can join with anyone they please- and prepare a cover to perform friday of next week. That is in twelve days.” Everyone started chattering excitedly, turning to their friends.

“Settle down everyone!” Ms. Harrison called above the noise. “The guidelines of this assignment will be on your disclosures. You will get twenty minutes of class time each day to analyze the piece you choose, taking notes of the chord progressions and melodies utilized, as well as the history of the song. Your notes will be presented to me the day before the performances. Every other day you will get the class period to practice the piece, but if you want to truly excel at this assignment i suggest you get together outside of school. Now. Go wild. Come to my desk if you have any questions.” She walked to the back of the room, leaving the mass of kids to chaotically shove their way to their friends.

Reggie sat still for a moment, processing her words. He barely had a second to worry about who he would partner with, before someone grabbed his arm and he was tugged out of his seat and across the room. 

“Nick, Reggie’s joining our group,” Carrie stated as she dumped Reggie into a chair. He looked up to see Nick smiling at him. “This is gonna be fun!”

Around them, the others were forming there own chair pods. Reggie spotted Willie sitting with Alex and Flynn and smiled over at him, before turning back to Carrie and Nick.

“So, Reggie. What instruments do you play?” Carrie prompted, poking him in the side.

“Uhhh, i play bass? And the banjo. And keyboard. And acoustic guitar? I think thats it…” He trailed off as he realised the way they were looking at him. Carrie had a surprised yet brilliant smile on her face, and Nick looked a bit dumbstruck. “What?”

“Um, wow,” Nick stuttered. There was something in his expression that Reggie couldn’t read, but it was adorable. “Thats impressive.”

Reggie sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, i guess so. I had a lot of time alone when i was a kid, and i guess i just picked things up.”

Carrie glanced between the two before speaking up. “Well. This gives us a lot of options! Normally its just me and Nick playing different guitar parts, but now we can add more variety! So. Anyone got any song ideas?” She went back to looking back and forth between them.

Nick shook his head and looked to Reggie.

“Uh, well.” He thought for a second. “I have one idea?”

Carrie perked up. “Lets hear it! Usually it takes us _hours_ to come up with our choice.”

“Okay. Do you guys know the bon jovi song ‘it’s my life’?” Carrie and Nick both nodded. “Well, there’s this altered version made for a Juke Box musical called ‘& Juliet’, and its really good. I think it has parts all of us can play.”

“Hold up a sec-” Carrie interjected, pulling out her phone and some headphones. “‘Its my life’ & Juliet, right?”

“Yeah.”

She handed an earbud to Nick and pressed play. They were all quiet for a moment. When the song finished, Nick smiled widely.

“This sounds awesome!”

“You like it? We’d have to cut out the excess dialogue, or we could also just do the regular version if you guys like that better, or we could just choose a completely different song if you guys want-” 

“Reggie,” Nick reached out a hand and put it on Reggie's arm. “I think this is a great choice.” He had a soft smile on his face, and it made Reggie's heart beat a little quicker.

Carrie cleared her throat, smirking knowingly at them, and the boys broke their eye contact to look at her. “I agree that this song is perfect. All votes in?” She held up her hand and raised her eyebrows at them. Reggie and Nick both hurriedly lifted their hands as well. She smiled at them, and jotted down a note in her notebook. “All right. Lets start divvying up parts. Reggie, can you sing?”

***

The first two periods of Kayla's day were very boring. First, she had had history, where the teacher started teaching the minute they walked in the door. Sure this was school, but where’s the first day chill? After that she’d had math, where they’d taken a review test. That was slightly better, since she’d heard Reggie's voice in her head from their facetime study sessions, but it was still not very fun. 

Third period was a million times better, because Reggie was there. He sat two seats over, and he kept making funny faces at her. After the teacher had given them the rundown of how things were going to work this year, she let them go sit with their friends to work on a review page. Although it was only about ten minutes, Reggie and Kayla quickly finished the paper and spent the rest of the time chatting.

As they checked their schedules for fourth period, they branched off in different directions. Reggie gave Kayla a quick peck on the cheek before hopping off to math, and she started off to the gym for dance class.

The very first thing she noticed as she walked in was Willie. He sat on the bleachers, discreetly checking his phone, and she walked over to meet him.

“Whatcha doin’?” she asked, jumping up behind him. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin. “AGHH! KAYLA DONT DO THAT!”

She smiled innocently at him. “Do what? Anyways, do you know how this class works? Are we gonna do partner projects or like group performances or smthn…”

“KAYLA!” someone shouted, interrupting whatever Willie was going to say. Kayla turned to see Nick running toward her, dragging a girl behind him. Behind them, walking more leisurely, were Julie, Alex, and Flynn. 

Nick and the girl skidded to a halt, both breathing heavily. “Kayla,” Nick panted, “This is Carrie, my best friend.” Willie raised an eyebrow at something that he said, but didn’t comment. “Carrie, this Kayla, my best cousin and also one of my best friends.”

Carrie smiled and held out a hand. “Hi! Nick mentions you a lot!”

“He’s mentioned you too! You’re the girlfriend right?”

“Oh, not anymore. We decided we’re better as friends.” At that, everyone raised their eyebrows. Julie and Alex, who had just caught up, shared a confused glance. Flynn’s eyes grew _very_ wide. Willie blinked. Even Nick looked surprised for a moment, before smiling, an odd expression on his face.

Kayla briefly wondered why Nick hadn’t told her, before discarding the tunnel thought and smiling back at Carrie. “Cool!” 

The teacher called the class to attention. “Alright Everyone! We’re gonna run through some partner exercises, so pair off.”

Kayla immediately grabbed Willie’s arm, but for the rest of the group there was a mess of confusion. 

“Nick honey, I love you but there is no way i am dancing with you,” said Carrie.

“I’ll dance with you Nick!” 

“Julie!” Flynn gasped. “You can’t leave me!”

“Hey Carrie, would you be willing to dance with me?”

“Alex! Yes!” Carrie quickly clung to his arm.

“Julie! You cannot leave me with Luke!”

“Whats wrong with me?” Luke, who had just sprinted in, asked.

“Dude. Are you seriously asking me that.”

“Leave him alone, hes a good dancer. And its too late, I’m dancing with Nick.”

“JULIE,” Flynn groaned.

“Like i said! Too late! Come on Nick!” Julie grabbed his arm and tore off across the gym. Flynn groaned and rolled her eyes, before poking luke in the chest and walking away. He obediently followed her. Carrie smiled at Kayla brightly, before prancing off with Alex. Willie stared after them for a second, before gently tugging Kayla to an empty space on the floor.

The teacher started leading them through some simple warm ups, and Kayla had a chance to talk to Willie.

“So. What was that earlier? Everyone seem shocked by what Carrie said.”

He shrugged. “I guess none of us had known they broke up. They’ve sort of been the ‘it’ couple for a while. I’m mostly surprised because it seems like they didn’t even tell their friends.”

“Huh.” Kayla smirked as she remembered something from that morning. “Alright, since we’re equally clueless about that situation, how ‘bout we talk about something else. Alex is hotdog, huh?”

Willie blushed bright red and stuttered.

Kayla’s smirk grew and she wiggled her eyebrows at him. Glancing in the direction where Carrie and Alex were dancing, she said, “I see why you like him. Hes cute, _and_ he can dance.”

Willie blushed even more. “Yeah… he’s perfect isn’t he?” he sighed.

“Yup. Now you just have to ask him out.”

Willie stuttered more. “But what if he says no?”

Kayla stopped doing the warm up and turned directly to him. “Are you serious? Did you not see the way he was looking at you this morning? His blush when you called him a nickname? That boy is into you. Now buckle up those big boy pants and ask him out. You guys deserve to be happy.” She smiled at him, before turning back to the teacher and resuming the warmup. “You don't have to do it right away, obviously. Do it when you’re ready. But don't let doubt and fear keep you from getting there.”

He smiled kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Always, skater boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it! feedback and suggestions are very much appreciated.
> 
> hopefully it doesn't take as long to update the next chapter... but who knows....
> 
> i dont really have a plot for this yet? but i do have a basic idea of whats gonna take place in the next few chapters. so, hopefully it'll turn out fine.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! if you have any feedback, please comment! im open to any suggestions.  
> (you could also give me a plot. haha jk. unless...)


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